Under pressure from insurers—and inspired by Disney—ski areas introduced colorful symbols to convey a trail’s difficulty. More than 40 years later, airports get in line.

Imagination is not the hallmark of most government agencies, so let’s give a cheer for the folks at the Transportation Security Administration. After successfully testing the idea at the Salt Lake City and Denver airports—the nation’s busiest travel hubs for skiers—the federal agency is using symbols similar to ski-trail signs to speed airline passengers through security lines. A green circle indicates the line for infrequent travelers—beginners—unfamiliar with protocol, such as not carrying bottled water through security.

In the noisy approach to November’s presidential election, politics has elbowed its way to the front of seemingly every discussion. In fact, politics has always played a key role, if quiet one, in the ski industry, especially for those 136 ski areas sitting at least partly on U.S. Forest Service land. With the U.S. government as a landlord, those resorts routinely work closely with the Forest Service on a range of concerns. Of course, the politics of skiing doesn’t end there.